4 WHO THEY ARE
4 WHO THEY ARE
Before we can get into what we can do to hinder or stop speeders and tailgaters, we should know who they are and how to recognize them.
Speeders are people who care more about their schedule, their importance and themselves than they do about their safety, your safety and everyone else’s safety. 98.5% of all crashes in North America were caused by speed; going too fast for conditions. The old saying “speed kills” is true.
These people don’t care who they hurt or kill. They have convinced themselves that ‘it won’t happen to them’ and then they add ‘because’; because they are special, because they are smarter than everyone else, because they are better drivers than everyone else, because it hasn’t happened to them yet then it probably won’t, because God is looking out for them or any number of reasons so long as they can feel confident that when they speed, nothing bad will happen. They’re only fooling themselves.
Then, when it does happen to them, they call it an accident [as if their speeding had nothing to do with it] and go on speeding because that accident could not be helped.
You can recognize these people because you can see them gaining on you in your rear view mirror. [It’s always a good policy to keep checking your rear view mirror regularly for potential problems. Most problems will come from behind you unless you are the speeder, then you are the problem.]
If you can, give them lots of room and let them go by you. Remember, It’s their $186.00 when their caught, not yours. If you try to outrun them, then it WILL BE your $186.00.
Tailgaters are speeders that have reached you. They will be people that are in a hurry and don’t want to travel the same speed you are going or people that have watched others tailgate and think that that is the proper way to drive. [This category contains young, inexperienced drivers, arrogant and self-centered men and women who are thinking of everything else except driving.] This group is especially dangerous because their mind is not on what is around them and they are not experienced enough or alert enough to handle an emergency situation in front of them. The potential of them ramming you is very high.
People that are in a hurry but don’t care will at least be alert enough to steer out around you, if anything happens.
Again, by watching the cars behind you periodically, you can tell the alert drivers from those whose minds are not on their driving. They will wander side to side, come too close at lights and stop signs, do thoughtless and dangerous little things without being aware that they are doing them, be more interested in themselves in their mirrors then what is going on around them or be fishing for something on the seat, on the floor or back seat, while they are driving through busy traffic.
Your safety is at stake and your life is in danger. To drive defensively, is to drive to survive. Look and learn who is around you and don’t let them get you. Avoid those inexperienced and dangerous drivers by putting as much room as you can between your car and theirs but stay in your own lane and where you are supposed to be.
Until the next time, stay alert and drive to be safe.
Comments (2)
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To argue semantics, you are saying "speed", not "excessive" or "insufficient". If you are talking about speed, as in being in motion, then actually 100% of all collisions would be caused by being in motion.
When discussing speed issues, please don't ignore hazards caused by people not moving at a sufficient speed and thereby hindering the proper flow of traffic. This can cause other drivers to take undo risk when attempting to pass and can lead to a potential collision. Driving too slow (impeding traffic), like driving too fast (speeding), is also against the law.
Your right. I didn't meen speeding. I said 'too fast for conditions'; all those personal things you mentioned are good reasons to slow down because the driver is not able to cope with the speed limit if he is not at his/her best.
Also outside conditions should cause a driver to slow down; snow, rough rodes, children playing close by, any danger to the driver, their passengers or people outside of the vehicle should cause the driver to slow down.
Going slower increases the drivers reaction time, if something should happen, lessens the impact when something happens and makes the car more responsive if need be.
Driving too slow is a hazzard but the drivers that choose to take the risk and pass dangerously have made that choice and are totally responsable.
There could be any number of good reasons for driving slow. Maybe the driver is inexperienced and would be a hazzard driving faster. We should check them out first and never pass when it is not safe.